Tag Archives: purple loom

I've been hankering to make a scarf, and after much thought, I chose a lovely Berroco Merino Pure in bordeaux. I decided to try the whole thing in a garter stitch pattern on the blue Knifty Knitter. After much trial and error, I frogged it and started again, this time on needles. After another try, I frogged it again, wondered why I really needed another scarf, and put everything away.

But today, I decided I really wanted another scarf, so I pulled out my little-used purple rectangle loom, an absoloutely enormous amount of Cascade Eco+ (7811) — one skein is about 475 yards — and an old sheet of wrapping patterns. Using just ten pegs (twenty if you count both the top and bottom) and a ribbed pattern, after just an hour or so, I had nearly two feet of my very, very purple scarf finished.

(NOTE: The drawings of the different ways to wrap came from the Yahoo Knifty Knitters Loom group files. It's under General Information and it's called "Various Wraps for a Board Loom." I'm using the Rib Wrap. It's also located here as a download.)

I finally finished one panel of my afghan. I’ve been using the purple loom, and I’ve discovered that making an afghan is a true test in endurance. My hat goes off to all you afghan-makers out there! This is one big project. I’m using Red Heart Super Saver (because it’s cheap), and I do a zig-zag wrap using the whole loom. The panel I finished is divided into five “squares” of thirty-three rows apiece (plus one row where the old color stops and the new color start). I alternated colors (blue, brown/multicolor, cream, multicolor/brown, blue). The next panel will probably be different colors (brown, cream, multicolor, cream, brown), and the final panel will probably be the same as the first. B says it should be five panels wide, but I think it’ll be mid-summer before it gets finished if I add two more.

Once my purple loom was free, I tried to knit a rug/mat out of this hemp twine I bought a few weeks back from a groovy bead shop. It smells like patchouli! I used a figure-eight wrap and it ended up a perfect square. Not quite a rug, not a placemat. What is it? My wrist hurt after knitting this, and my KK pick was bent, and I’ll send out a warning. Pick a thinner hemp if you plan on doing this. I think it would make a great outdoor welcome mat if the gauge was a little thinner, and I had twice as much. The double-knit end result from the purple loom is really cool.

My shrug. Oh, the poor thing! I stopped after I finished the main section. All I have left is the arms, but I just… don’t… like… it… There, I said it. It’s too green and hairy. I’m letting this sit for the time being because I may come up with another use for it, or I may decide I really, really want a green and hairy shrug after all. We’ll see.

Over the weekend, I made yet another pair of slippers for myself. Yes, this is the third pair I’ve made for myself, the fifth pair total. However, this time, I used the toe-up pattern that’s in the “files” section of the Knifty Knitter’s yahoo group. I used the blue loom and it was really easy. I like the toe-up slipper because there’s no seam at all in the toe area. It’s fun. You start off by creating the toe (the blue loom uses pegs 1-12) and then decreasing and then increasing. (It’s all in the pattern). Then, here’s the fun part, you pull those original stitches over to pegs 13-24. The toe looks like a flat circle at this point. Then you start the foot, and as you add row after row, you can see the toe emerge. Rowena also does a version of a toe-up sock, and she has pictures on her blog.

The first time I tried this, I was using a flat stitch, and I just couldn’t pull the stitches across to the other side, because the stitch was too tight. This time I used the regular e-wrap stitch, and it worked really well. I used Bernat’s Denimstyle yarn, which was okay for this project but not great. It’s part cotton and really doesn’t have any elasticity to it. It’d be great for a sweater or a scarf. Another first for me–I used two colors. Red (batik) for the toe/heel, and white (canvas) for the foot/ankle/cuff. I think they’re cute and super soft, and they’re the perfect thing to wear to bed if your feet are cold.

Another first: a scarf! I think if someone gets a KK for Christmas, they probably make a hat and a scarf. I try to make as many different things as I can, but I guess someday, you just look around and realize you need a scarf. I used the purple loom and Lion Thick & Quick and knitted a scarf using the entire skein. It took me about 1.5 hours, and I used the figure eight wrapping pattern to cast on, and then I used the zig-zag pattern after than. Super duper easy. The only problem that I encountered was that I thought the scarf was too wide and short, and when B laid eyes on it, he said, "Hey, I'll use that!"

So, I'm still scarfless. Oh well. It's about 50 degrees out and until the next snow, I won't need one. Next project: Slippers for Dad.

A newly-started afghan–a people one, not a cat one. I bought about eight skeins of some cheapie yarn, Red Heart, and dove into the biggest project I've undertaken. The purple loom makes about a 12" wide panel and I'm planning on alternating squares of blue, brown, cream, and a multicolored blue-brown-cream.

I'm using the zig zag stitch with two strands of yarn. It's a bit airy with spaces between the stitches, but I think the overall size will make it warm. I like doing this type of thing because I don't have to count much. I don't like doing it because it's a little overwhelming with how long it can take. Also, I'll have to stitch panels together which is something I haven't done. Maybe I can crochet them? I'm planning on three panels of five squares each which, hopefully, will give me a 36"x 62" afghan. Another adventure!

…Yarn! And a new KK purple loom! I'm very quickly becoming addicted to loom knitting, and I've discovered several Yahoo groups plus some great knitting blogs out there. I'll add links soon, but Isela's is one of the greatest sites. She's made a dozen short movies, and I've learned some great stitches from watching them–flat stitch, purl, etc. We'll see how I can incorporate them.

I bought some great Turkish yarn. It's got a Mohair look, and it's a brilliant green, but I can't decide what to use it for. I also bought some more Lion yarn, plus two skeins of Lion 100% wool with ideas of felting projects.

My latest project was my first real mistake. Using the new purple loom, I used two strands of dark blue wool and knitted a panel (the purple loom knits a double-knit panel that looks good from both sides. If you do a flat panel on the regular round looms, you have a front and a back.) I made the panel long enough for a French Press cozy, which is what my husband requested, but I was stumped as to how this would shrink down. Well, here's the end product! Doesn't it look like a doll's skirt? I tried felting this panel by hand in the sink, and it ended up with holes, gaps really. It's thin and pretty ugly.

So… determined to get this project finished, I decided felting was best left for machine shrinking (it would have been too small anyway), and I knitted another panel on the purple KK loom using Wool-Ease. It came out the right size: 10" x 6". I added a few buttons, and we'll call it finished. This was the first project that frustrated me a little because I wasn't using a pattern, just guessing. If I had to do this again, I'd probably use the red loom and knit in the round for a inch or so (for the bottom), and then find a way to knit back and forth, leaving an opening for the handle of the French press.